The Toronto Blue Jays and manager John Gibbons continue to make progress on a contract extension and are hopeful of completing a deal before opening day, but the sides are not yet at the finish line, according to an industry source.
A report by Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports on Tuesday said the club and its skipper of the past four years were “finalizing a multi-year extension.”
“It’s common knowledge we’ve been talking about things,” Gibbons told reporters in Sarasota, Fla. Tuesday. “We’ve made progress. Hopefully it all falls into place. These guys have been good to me. No complaints. We’ve been talking about it.”
Sportsnet’s source indicated that things aren’t at that point yet. Regardless, it’s clear that an extension for Gibbons remains a matter of when, not if, as it has been since the sides first raised the topic at the end of last season.
GM Ross Atkins recently told Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun that he was “extremely optimistic we will be working together for the foreseeable future,” while Gibbons said, “I think we’ll get something soon.”
Gibbons’ contract expires at the end of this season, so any new deal, even if it only adds one more year, would be a multi-year commitment since it covers 2017 plus 2018.
The length of the extension will be particularly noteworthy as tacking on only one more year would leave the sides in a similar spot next year.
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